


In The End

by Spurlunk



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-04
Updated: 2012-04-04
Packaged: 2017-11-03 01:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/375535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spurlunk/pseuds/Spurlunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Parvati's point of view during the last battle at Hogwarts during Deathly Hallows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The End

Parvati Patil could deal with the changes at Hogwarts. She was used to keeping her head down and following orders when it was the only thing keeping her safe. She hung out in the Room of Requirement with the rest of Dumbledore’s Army, but had no desire to get herself injured or beat up like Neville seemed to. He didn’t mind getting caught trying to disrupt Snape or the Carrows’ plans, but Parvati was more of a fan of subversive sabotage that had no name or identity attached to it. In Parvati’s opinion, there was a difference between brave and being stupid. She discussed this with Lavender, who agreed. Parvati had always been her friend, but they spent a lot more time together than usual now. it was nice to lose herself in talk about boys and hair ribbons when everything else seemed so dark. 

It’s remarkable what kinds of things that people could get used to, and Parvati was actually settling into the new life at a changed Hogwarts. She wondered how it was for some of the first years, who had never known the school’s former welcoming, warm atmosphere, now shrouded in suspicion and fear. 

Parvati didn’t actually care much for the trio, as they were becoming known among the rest of the DA. She knew that this wasn’t an opinion she should make public, but sometimes she spoke with her sister about how Hermione could sometimes be a bit arrogant, and Ron was a complete jerk for what he’d done to Lavender, whereas Harry was the worst date she’d ever had (yes, it was three whole years ago, but STILL, these things mattered). Padma agreed, but said that they were the only ones who seemed to be doing anything more serious than playing childish pranks like Neville and Ginny were, so they should support them in any way they could.

When Harry came back to Hogwarts through the Room of Requirement, everyone cheered, but Parvati hesitated. She knew that it would ultimately come down to a battle between Harry and You-Know-Who, and she knew that where Harry went, trouble would follow. She knew what was coming, everyone could sense the tension building in the air and Parvati and Lavender had had to comfort a few teary first and second-years in the Gryffindor common room (with most of the older students hanging out in the Room of Requirement so often, there was no one around to help out the younger kids, so Parvati took it upon herself to reassure them and tell them that everything was going to be okay (it wasn’t)).

You could never be prepared for a battle like this. Parvati and her sister had been babies during the first war, and her parents had been new immigrants to London. They thought seriously about going back home, but ended up staying, because they said that Hogwarts was the best Wizarding School in the world and they wanted their daughters to be well-educated at any cost. Now Parvati thought maybe it would have been better if they’d just gone back to India. Voldemort’s influence didn’t reach that far, though there were Dark Wizards everywhere.

When the Order finally arrived - or what was left of it anyway - the professors and other adults began ordering the older students and members of the DA to provide back-up here, or there, or there. Professor Sprout grabbed Parvati and told her to get all of the first and second years to their common rooms where they would be safe. Parvati felt guilty for the sudden surge of relief in her stomach when she realized that meant she wouldn’t be in the actual battle. Fabulous Gryffindor that made her. But she did as she was told, running to the back of the great hall as Filch led the Slytherins down to the dungeons. Parvati caught Pansy’s eye and a sort of grudging understanding passed between them. Parvati hated Pansy’s guts, ever since she’d met her back before they’d come to Hogwarts, but she understood why she’d wanted to give Harry up. Better save many and sacrifice one than sacrifice many to save one. Sometimes Parvati wondered if she made a better Slytherin than a Gryffindor.

“Come on now, first and second years come with me! I don’t care what house you’re in, come along now!” she yelled to make her voice heard over the din.

“But I want to fight!” a short blond boy in Gryffindor robes cried out. He came up to about Parvati’s shoulder, and she was not a tall girl by any stretch of the imagination.

“You’ll get yourself killed. Come with me, now, no exceptions! Jade, lead the way to the Hufflepuff common room, I’ll take up the rear,” Parvati said, directing a second-year Hufflepuff to go first. She knew that Harry had gone to the Ravenclaw common room to find the diadem, and the Gryffindor common room probably wasn’t the safest place to be right now either. The children began walking up the stairs, constantly dodging out of the way of older students dashing here and there. It was a state of panic, and Parvati was scared more than she had ever been in her entire life (she’d been pretty terrified when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, and when Sirius Black was at large, but never as frightened as this). Still, she knew it wouldn’t do any good to panic in front of the others, so she kept her face blank and her wand out, making sure no student got left behind.

Then the noises around them changed. Instead of shouting and running, it became screaming and running, and she could hear the crashes and bangs of spells being cast. Some of the younger children began to cry or scream. The torches along the walls went out and the darkness was only punctured by blasts of blue, red, and green light. Parvati stumbled over something soft and looked down to see a body. There were twisted, grimacing faces and screaming, terrified ones illuminated in every flash. All of the children were screaming and running now, and Parvati couldn’t see where she was going. She yelled for them to stay calm but wasn’t sure if anyone heard her. She didn’t even know where the Hufflepuff common room was, and she didn’t know what to do but try and stay alive.

Hogwarts was home. It was one of the places that was always safe, like the cinnamon smell of her father’s skin when he embraced her, or the feel of her sister’s long, black hair when she braided it every morning, and now it wasn’t. It was the least safe place she could possibly be. Parvati panicked. I don’t want to die. That was the only thought that was going through her mind, and she felt her heart beating a thousand times per minute, until it felt like it would jump right out of her chest. Every spell she had ever learned in Defense Against The Dark Arts simply flew out of her head and all she could remember was what the different shapes in a crystal ball meant. Why had she ever loved Divination so much, it was completely useless. What was the point of seeing the future if there was nothing you could do to change it?

Parvati knelt behind a cracked pillar, trying to catch her breath. She heard soft tears coming from nearby, and saw a young boy with a bloody gash through his leg. She inched over to him and helped him stand, letting him lean heavily on her shoulder. They walked carefully to the nearest door, which opened into an empty classroom. She helped him sit at one of the desks, and told him not to move. He looked at her like she was stupid, and she nodded, heading back out. 

Parvati lost count of how many injured students she brought back to the empty classroom. It was her responsibility to protect the first years and she had failed, so this was her penance. Bring every single one she could find back to safety, their injuries a reminder of how she had not fulfilled her only duty. She began to not even notice the bodies that she stumbled over. They could have been Death Eaters, they could have been her classmates, and she would never have noticed the difference. Dead, they were all the same. 

Parvati’s sister came and found her after everything was over. She had kept bringing injured students back until it seemed as though there were more people packed into that little classroom than there were students at Hogwarts, but Padma took her forcibly by the arm and made her stop to look her in the eye.

“You need to go to the Great Hall.”

“I can’t, there are still more wounded first-years out here - “

“It’s Lavender.”

Parvati had always thought Lavender was a little flighty. She was the type to get super obsessed with a boy and then completely forget about them after a few weeks, moving on to another. She loved looking pretty and gossiping about her classmates. But she was funny, and sweet, and brave. She was the first close friend Parvati had ever had besides her sister. And now she lay motionless on the ground, her blonde hair spilled out behind her, her eyes shut as if she was merely asleep.

Professor Trelawney took one end of the blanket and Parvati took the other, covering her best friend’s body. She didn’t cry.


End file.
